Snow Leopard Trust Natural Felt Paw Print Pillow

These adorable paw print pillows are individually hand-felted and each paw print is hand-felted onto each pillow by Kyrgyz artisans in rural herding communities. A unique and beautiful item to adorn your couch or to place on each chair at the table, but also make great cat beds. Cats just love the lanolin oils in wool.

They are made from sheep wool, and therefore must be hand washed in cold water and laid flat to dry. The pillows measure approximately 15" x 15" and are about 2" thick -- not a thick pillow, but decorative and, just right for kitty naptime.

With your purchase of these Paw Print Pillows, you are supporting herders who live throughout the remote regions of Mongolia, helping them get the much needed food, medicines and clothing for their families that they haven't been able to afford. As part of the program, these empowered participants work together to help in the conservation of snow leopards in their region, making a huge difference in the survival of this species.

What do Snow Leopards have to do with Wool?There are as few as 3,500 snow leopards remaining in the wild. These beautiful cats share the vast, rugged mountains of Asia with communities who depend upon small herds of sheep, goats, yaks and camels for a living.

Many of these families survive on less than a dollar a day. Snow leopards are hunted in retaliation for attacking families' precious domestic livestock, and their pelts and bones can also be sold for much-needed cash to passing traders.

By buying wool products directly from herders, the Snow Leopard Trust is providing these communities with opportunities to increase their income by up to 40%. To participate, communities negotiate and sign agreements to help with specific conservation projects to protect snow leopards and key wild prey species.

Money for the handcrafted products is paid directly to the people who produce them (99% are women) and is used to buy medicines, purchase fruit and vegetables and send children to school.

The end results of this successful program are a higher quality of life for families, safer snow leopards, greater respect for women and a healthier environment!